Top Stories

AOPA's new president was a kid on a bicycle riding to the airport to hear stories and poke around airplanes. He sold his van in college to buy his first airplane, and said learning to fly changed his life. As Mark Baker succeeds Craig Fuller and becomes only the fifth president and CEO in AOPA history, he is dedicated to making sure future generations will enjoy the kind of access that drew him into aviation.
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Technique and Safety

After an area forecast tells you where the freezing level is forecast for your flight, you must then decide whether the big weather picture of clouds and precip permits safe crossing of the 0-degrees-Celsius line.
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Gordon Webster was lucky to walk away from the scene, after crashing his Beechcraft Bonanza into a cemetery. In this Air Safety Institute Real Pilot Story, Webster recounts trying to make a precautionary landing at a nearby airport and shares important lessons learned about preparing for and reacting properly to an emergency.
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Whether it's a seaplane, tailwheel, complex, high-performance, or multiengine airplane that you hope to someday fly as pilot in command, the FAA requires training and testing, or an endorsement by an authorized instructor, to have an additional category, class, or operating privilege added to your credentials.
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One of the most technically challenging environments for a pilot is flying, as the sole pilot, in instrument conditions. Fortunately, it can be done—with adequate preparation and training—safely and with confidence. Broaden your horizons in IMC by taking the Air Safety Institute's Single Pilot IFR online course.
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You've probably heard about NASA's latest plan to generate interest, and perhaps some funding, by catching an asteroid that is going to destroy the planet and bag it (paper or plastic?).
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AOPA has streamlined pricing this year for its Aviation Summit in order to give members access to all of the content at the event at one low price. If you register before Sept. 6, you will receive up to 20 percent off most registration options.
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AOPA needs volunteers to help with parking 1,000-plus attendee aircraft, directing ground transportation, and managing the flow of people and vehicles. This year's AOPA Aviation Summit in Fort Worth, Texas, Oct. 10 through 12 promises to be an outstanding event. Be a part of pulling it off—sign up to volunteer today!Share:

Health

Whether you learned to fly in a Cessna 150 sans headset, listened to too much rock music in your younger years, or if those younger years were long ago, your hearing could be damaged, explains Dr. Jonathan Sackier in the latest episode of Fly Well.
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A rocket fuel injector made using 3-D printing technology held up under extreme pressure and temperatures in a NASA test, marking a milestone in the development of technology that has aviation applications as well.
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Opinion

Pilots should consider the following: The government has identified VFR flying as an area that they do not control in the way that they do most other areas of transportation. They will work to eliminate that ambiguity.
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It is hard to ignore the current explosion of social networking that is occurring in the general aviation family. Facebook, Twitter, blogging, videos, podcasting, or the next big thing to debut tomorrow ... take your pick. The platform does not matter. General aviation needs you to be all in right now.
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Travel

Interesting things always used to start with a phone call or an email. And it was an email from an old friend, Ross Russo, that kicked off the discussion that led to an invitation for AOPA Technical Editor Mike Collins to fly around the world to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the Mitsubishi MU-2's first flight.
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There are some basic safety tips every traveler should keep in mind, even if they are the most seasoned of voyagers. Check out these four tips from AOPA's Emergency Assistance Plus Program.
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Financial

Aircraft owners should know by now that the FAA has largely done away with aircraft registration certificates that have no expiration date on their face. Registration certificates will now expire three years after issuance. If you are caught flying an unregistered aircraft, there is the possibility that the aircraft will be seized—a very expensive mistake to make.
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Membership in the New Hampshire Flying Association is limited to 17 so that members have better access to the flying club's A36 Bonanza. The club has one level of membership for the Bonanza: a $2,200 share price. Dues are $268 a month fixed, and it costs $150 an hour wet, to use the aircraft, with three hours per quarter minimum.
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News and Notes

Cessna Aircraft Co. announced the first flight of a production Citation M2 on Aug. 23, with certification expected in the fall. The M2, which first flew in March, is built to carry six passengers on legs of up to 1,300 nautical miles and compete with Embraer's Phenom 100.
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The International Council of the Aircraft Owner and Pilot Association has approved Jordan as the seventy-second affiliate, growing the ranks of general aviation organization in the Middle East.
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AOPA Career Opportunities

Ever dream of turning your passion for aviation into a career? We're looking for a staff assistant/PAC coordinator and AOPA Live editor/graphic artist. To learn more about other AOPA career opportunities,
visit AOPA Online.

Question of the Week

Question

How many aircraft must be based at an airport before it is considered a regional airport?

Answer

As of 2012, there were about 467 regional airports in the United States. In order to be designated as such, the airport must have at least one based jet or at least 100 based aircraft. If it does not meet those criteria, it still may be designated as a regional airport if it is located in a metropolitan or micropolitan statistical area, and the airport meets the definition of commercial service. The airport must also have at least 10 annual domestic IFR flights over 500 miles in radius and at least 1,000 annual IFR operations. Read more about categories of airports.

Got a question for our aviation services staff? The AOPA Pilot Information Center is a service available to all members as part of the annual dues. Contact AOPA.